--He walked out of the cave with Lilia on his back. They entered the forest at a stead walk. Marco walked slowly so they could enjoy the scenery. Lilia looked around. Everything was calm and beautiful. "This is amazing. I've never been able to enjoy the forest like this. I was always afraid something would hurt me. But now I have you to protect me." She said patting the back of his neck.
--"I always wanted to come here with you. I couldn't share the beauty of this place when I went by myself."
--Marco looked back. Lilia was now resting her arms on his wings and looked like she was sitting in a luxurious arm chair. She was obviously enjoying this. "I'm glad you did. It's beautiful." There was a long pause as they continued to move through the forest. Lilia then asked, "Why can't you fly?"
He paused for few moments then asked, "Why do you want to know?"
--"As a married couple, I think we deserve to know everything about each other."
--"Oh, I guess there's no hiding it from you anyways in that case."
--"So tell me. Why can't you fly?"
--"I can fly. I'm just terrible at it. I was just never taught to fly."
--"Why not? Aren't dragons taught to fly when they while growing up?"
--"I said that I was raised differently."
--"You are being awfully evasive. What do you mean by that?"
--"I am not being evasive. You will soon find out. I just want to show you is all."
--"Show me what?"
--"You will see. I just want to make it a surprise."
--"A surprise? I don't think I can live through another surprise."
--Marco chuckled. "No I just want to introduce you to somebody.
--"Who would that be?"
--"Oh you'll just have to wait and see."
--"I don't want to wait for another surprise. Just tell me."
--"Couldn't you just wait for a couple more minutes please? We are getting close."
--"Who is it? I just want a little warning for this."
--"Oh fine then. We're going to visit my papa."
--The princess now grew concerned for her safety. Was he a nice dragon? Would he dislike her because she was human? She searched for the proper words to express her concern without hurting his feelings. To be honest, she was still not entirely comfortable with him being a dragon, but she hid this very well because of his sensitivity about it. But now she would be faced with his father. She had to say something soon before they arrived.
--"Is your father nice?" She asked with a hint of worry in her voice.
--"He was always nice to me," he said not noticing her concern.
--"But do you think he will like me?"
--"Why wouldn't he?" he ask remaining oblivious.
--She had no answer to this prepared that would not be hurtful to him. She shut her eyes and thought hard for the right words to say. She did not have much time before-
--"We're here!" he announced with joy.
--That was fast. She opened her eyes and looked around. She did not see a cave or a giant hole, or any other place she could imagine a dragon living. Instead, she saw a charming little house in the middle of a beautiful garden. They were still in the middle of the woods. What was a garden and house doing all the way out here? The beauty of the garden distracted her from this and all other thoughts. It was filled with plants she had never seen before. Flowers were growing in strange shapes and colors that she had never seen them in. Bushes with odd patterns and fruit dotted the place.
--"Where are we?" she asked confused.
--"This is where my papa lives," he said in a way that made it seem as if this was perfectly normal. Before she could raise another question, Marco started ringing a bell that was hung on twisted pole by the front of the house. "Papa, I'm home! I brought someone with me for you to meet!" he shouted.
--Lilia watched the door intently waiting to see what could possible live here. Noises came from inside the house. The door opened and out walked a strange old man. He wore leather-bound goggles on his forehead and had gray hair hanging down around the strap. He had a long beard that had been bound into a braided rope of hair by line vines. The end of this odd rope of a beard was burnt making it look like an upside-down wick for a candle. He wore a large brown robe had now been greatly faded and discolored somehow. The man looked at her curiously, scrutinizing her from head to toe with his head tilted. For the moment she had forgotten that they were going to see Marco's father and had all her attention focused at trying not to give the man funny looks. She was reminded of this when Marco said, "Papa, this is Princess Lilia."
--The man's eyes widened and looked back at Marco. "This is really the princess?" He asked in disbelief.
--"Yes it is her. You can ask her if you want."
--The man turned back to her and said, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to offend, but are you really the princess?"
--"Yes I am, or was the princess of Anovia. Who are you?"
--"Forgive me highness. My name is Rinaldo. I'm Marco's father."
--Her eyes widened in bewilderment as she looked at him and Marco back and forth. "How can you possibly be his father? Are you also a dragon?"
--"Oh heavens no," Rinaldo laughed. "I'm not his true father. I just raised him. You could think of me as his adopted father."
--"I see." She said obviously still taking all of this in.
--"Come inside, and I'll tell you all about it."
--Marco lowered his head and let her off. She followed him to the door but looked back at Marco. "How are you going to get inside?"
--"Don't worry. I'll be there shortly."
--"She followed Rinaldo inside the house and looked around. She was in what appeared to be the only room in the house. It was divided with counters and had a large table in the middle. One section had a bed and a washbasin and another had a large collection of crammed bookshelves. Every surface of furniture was cluttered with papers, jars, and candles that had large accumulations of wax drippings binding them to the wood.
--"I apologize for the mess, but I didn't know I would be having company. A princess was the last thing I expected to come visit me," he said while clearing the mess on the main table.
--"Oh, it's quite alright. I don't mind," she said feeling quite refreshed that the place was not another well-furnished cave.
--"Okay, great then. Here have a seat for now," he replied as he pushed a wooden chair beside her.
--"So what do you do here?"
--"I'm a wizard of sorts. I work with magic potions, enchantments, and such."
--"Oh. That's interesting."
--"I'll go get something. Just wait here and make yourself comfortable."
--He walked to a winding ramp that led to a basement. She could see the basement since the ramp had no walls on the sides. The place seemed small until she noticed this. Rinaldo disappeared into a part of the basement hidden from her view. She waited patiently for him to return when she heard Marco's voice.
--"Lilia, I'm here." She looked around but did not see where he was or how he could fit in the house. "Down here." She moved her chair to get a better view of the basement. Marco was in the basement and looking at her. "Hello."
--"How did get down there?"
--"I came through the back tunnel. It's a lot bigger down here than it looks. I used to come down here all the time."
--"Your father is very different than I imagined."
--"I did say I was raised differently."
--"You enjoy these surprises don't you?"
--"No, but I did enjoy this one. This should be the last of my surprises though."
--Rinaldo was now returning from the basement. He carried a wooden staff with a fist-sized clear crystal held in its twist top part. A clear glass jug filled with a steaming reddish-purple liquid was in his other hand. He placed the jug on a counter and set the staff by bookshelves. "It's been a long time since I had a visitor. I always want to be hospitable." He shuffled through a counter shelf and pulled out a couple of decorative cups. "Would you like some tea?" he asked placing one of the cups in front of her.
--"Yes, that would be nice. Thank you."
--He grabbed the jug and filled her cup with the odd liquid. She stared at it for a moment then asked, "Is this tea?"
--"I think so. I have not made it for a while, but I think it turned out well." He filled his cup with the stuff and started to drink it. She tried it and found it to be good, but it tasted very little like tea.
--"Anyways, I was going to talk to about something…" He paused and thought for a moment trying to remember what it was.
--"You were going to tell me about being Marco's father."
--"Oh that was it. Thank you. Do you want me to keep it brief? It is a long story."
--"No, I want to hear everything. I have plenty of time."
--"Get comfortable then. I'll start from the beginning."
Lilia did so, and noticed that Marco was also listening intently.
